Henry VI Part III is a
history play about the struggle for power
during the reign of a young English
king.

Composition and
Publication

Date Written: Between 1590
and 1592. The
latest edition of The New Oxford
Shakespeare—published
by Oxford University Press and
edited by Gary Taylor, John Jowett ,
Terri Bourus, and Gabriel Egan—
maintains that Shakespeare co-wrote
the play with Christopher
Marlowe.Date Published: 1623 as
part of the First Folio,
the first authorized collection of
Shakespeare's plays.

Sources

Shakespeare based Henry VI
Part III primarily on accounts in The
Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
(Holinshed’s Chronicles), by Raphael
Holinshed (?-1580?). The first edition of the
chronicles was published in 1577 in two
volumes. Shakespeare also used The Union
of Two Noble and Illustre Families of
Lancastre and York, by Edward Hall
(?-1547).

Settings

Henry VI Part III is
set in various locales in England and France,
including the following: (1) London,
England: Parliament House, the royal
palace, the Tower; (2) Wakefield, England:
Sandal Castle and a battlefield; (3) Herefordshire:
a plain near Mortimer's Cross; (4) York;
(5) Yorkshire: battlefield between
Towton and Saxton, a park near Middleham
Castle; (6) northern England: a
forest; (7) France: the palace of King
Lewis XI; (8) a plain in Warwickshire; (9) Warwick:
Edward's camp; (10) West Midlands:
Coventry; (11) Barnet: battlefield;
and (12) Tewksbury: a plain.

Characters.King Henry VI: Pious and
timorous king of England (House of Lancaster),
who sometimes yearns for a simpler life. He is
at odds not only with his Yorkist foes but
also with his domineering wife. Queen Margaret: Ambitious
wife of King Henry.Edward, Prince of Wales:
Henry’s son, a smart, stout-hearted, regal
young man. He is everything that his father is
not. Richard Plantagenet, Duke of
York: Yorkist throne claimant who fails
to gain the crown. Edward, Earl of March:
Proud and insolent son of Richard Plantagenet.
Edward becomes King Edward IV, the first ruler
in the House of York.Edmund, George, Richard:
Other sons of Richard Plantagenet. Members of the Lancaster
Faction (symbolized by a red rose):
Duke of Exeter (Henry Holland), Earl of Oxford
(John de Vere), Earl of Northumberland (Henry
Percy), Earl of Westmoreland (Ralph Neville),
Lord Clifford (John Clifford), and the
Marquess of Montague (John Neville). Members of the York Faction (symbolized
by a white rose): Earl of Warwick (Richard
Neville), Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Pembroke,
Lord Hastings, Lord Stafford, Sir John
Mortimer, Sir Hugh Mortimer, Sir John
Montgomery, Sir John Somerville, Sir William
Stanley.Elizabeth Woodville (Lady
Grey): Widow of Sir Richard Grey (killed
in fighting at Saint Albans). She marries
Edward, the son of Richard Plantagenet, and
becomes his queen. Lord Rivers: Brother of
Elizabeth Woodville (Lady Grey), the new
queen. Lewis XI: King of France.Bona: Sister of the French
Queen.Henry, Earl of Richmond:
Noble youth descended from the Lancasters. He
seems destined for greatness. Others: Tutor to Edmund
(Earl of Rutland), Mayor of York, Lieutenant
of the Tower, Nobleman, Two Gamekeepers,
Huntsman, Soldiers, Attendants, Messengers,
Watchmen, Son That Has Killed His Father,
Father That Has Killed His Son.

Historical Background

Henry VI, of the House of
Lancaster, became king of England as an infant
on Sept. 1, 1422, after the death of his
father, King Henry V. Henry VI reigned from
1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to 1471. After
serving merely as a figurehead in his boyhood
and adolescence, Henry began to rule on his
own in 1437, at age sixteen. After he married
Margaret of Anjou in April 1445, ambitious
nobles—and
his own wife—began
plotting against him for their own selfish
ends. Henry VI Part III continues the
story begun in Henry
VI
Part I (which ended with the
marriage of Henry to Margaret) and Henry VI Part II
(which ended with Richard Plantagenet claiming
the crown)..

York will not budge. Warwick,
one of York’s supporters, tells the King: “Be
Duke of Lancaster; let him [York] be king”
(1.1.90). Westmoreland, one of the King’s
supporters, answers, “He is both king and Duke
of Lancaster” (1.1.91). A quarrel ensues about
who is the rightful king. It ends when Henry
asks to be allowed to reign for his lifetime.
York agrees to permit Henry to “reign in quiet”
(1.1.177) if the King confirms York as rightful
successor to the throne when the King dies. “I
am content, Richard Plantagenet,” the King says.
“Enjoy the kingdom after my decease” (178-179).
Queen Margaret is furious. She and the King now
have a son who would inherit the throne. But
Henry’s agreement with York makes him a
disinherited son. She tells the King:

Ah, wretched
man! would I had died a maid And never seen thee, never borne
thee son, Seeing thou hast prov’d so
unnatural a father Hath he deserv’d to lose his
birthright thus? (1.1.223-226)

Meanwhile, York’s sons, Edward
and Richard, importune their father to take back
the throne that he yielded. Edward says: “Now
you are heir, therefore enjoy it now: / By
giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe”
(1.2.15-16). When York says he is bound on oath
to the agreement with Henry, Richard argues that
an oath not taken before a “true and lawful
magistrate” (1.2.26) is not binding. He also
says: “How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown,
/ Within whose circuit is Elysium” (1.2.32-33).
York then agrees to seize the throne immediately
“or die” (1.2.38). To retain her standing as queen,
Margaret raises an army and clashes with York at
Wakefield. She conquers. York’s son Edmund is
tortured and killed. York himself, taken
prisoner, endures taunts and mocks. The queen
crowns him with a paper diadem and says, “Now
looks he like a king!” (1.4.99). Lord Clifford,
a supporter of Margaret and the Lancasters,
stabs York. Margaret stabs him again for good
measure.

After York dies, Margaret orders
him decapitated. The head is placed on the gates
at York. The queen then wins another battle at
Saint Albans over the Earl of Warwick. Warwick
carries news of the defeat to York’s sons Edward
and Richard. Warwick says Margaret and Clifford,
who “have wrought the easy-melting king like
wax” (2.1.175), are now marching on London
thirty thousand strong to reclaim the throne for
Henry. Warwick stiffens his resolve and predicts
that with the help of his remaining forces,
along with loyal Welshmen and troops under the
Duke of Norfolk, the Yorkists will yet win the
day. Edward, who has now become Duke of York to
succeed his dead father, can then claim the
crown.

When the armies meet between
Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire, the meek king
watches from a distance as Warwick and the
Yorkists rout the queen. She flees with her son
to France, and Clifford is taken prisoner and
beheaded. Edward, Duke of York, is proclaimed
King Edward IV. Warwick then lays out the
schedule for the new monarch: First, he must hie
to London for his coronation.

Then he must marry Lady Bona,
the sister of the King of France, because
“having France thy friend, thou shalt not dread
/ The scatter’d foe that hopes to rise again”
(2.6.95-96). Warwick embarks for France to
arrange the marriage.

Now that Edward is king, his
brother Richard becomes Duke of Gloucester.
George, another brother, becomes Duke of
Clarence. Poor Henry is captured in the north of
England and imprisoned in the Tower of London.
While Warwick is on his mission in France,
Edward falls in love with a beautiful widow,
Lady Grey, and seeks to make her his queen. But
even as Edward prepares to run the realm, a new
rivalry takes shape: His brother Richard, a
hunchback who has no conscience, begins lusting
for the crown and plotting to overthrow Edward
to get it. In France, Margaret denounces
Warwick in an attempt to block the proposed
marriage between Lady Bona and Edward IV. Such a
marriage, she believes, would end all chances
for Henry to reclaim the throne. Nevertheless,
Louis XI approves the alliance. But all is for
naught, for word arrives from England that
Edward has married Lady Grey. This affront to
Warwick’s honor so angers him that he breaks
with Edward and aligns himself with Margaret in
her effort to restore Henry. Margaret welcomes
his change of heart, saying, “Warwick, these
words have turn’d my hate to love; and I forgive
and quite forget old faults.” The French decide
to support Warwick and Margaret, but Louis first
asks for a pledge of loyalty before he provides
aid. Warwick then offers his oldest daughter to
Margaret’s son, Prince Edward, in “holy wedlock”
(3.3.250). When the prince accepts the proposal,
Louis appoints his high admiral, Lord Bourbon,
to ferry troops to England.

In England, many of King
Edward’s followers are unhappy with his marriage
to Lady Grey. The Duke of Clarence, Edward’s own
brother, is so incensed that he joins with
Warwick and agrees to marry Warwick’s youngest
daughter. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, stands by
Edward, but only because he wants to keep the
crown in the family—the
better to usurp it later. After Warwick’s forces
enter England, they capture King Edward, then
free Henry from the Tower of London and
reinstall him as king. However, the meek Henry
has had enough of governing. He asks Warwick and
Clarence to rule jointly in his stead while he
pursues a quiet life of prayer.

Meanwhile, Edward has escaped to
Burgundy, thanks in large part to Gloucester.
After raising an army, he returns to England to
reclaim the throne. He and Gloucester capture
Henry, return him to the Tower of London, and
engage Warwick in battle at Coventry. Clarence
decides to switch sides again, saying he will
not “bend the fatal instruments of war” (5.1.95)
against his brothers. He tells them, “Pardon me,
Edward, I will make amends; / And, Richard, do
not frown upon my faults” (5.1.108-109). Both
brothers welcome him back to the fold.

Margaret then arrives from
France with fresh troops. But she is defeated near
Tewkesbury, and she and her son are taken
prisoner. When Margaret’s son spits insults at
Edward, Gloucester, and Clarence, they stab him in
turn as he writhes on the ground. Gloucester then
returns to London with all dispatch. After
entering the Tower, he tells Henry, “Thy son I
kill’d for his presumption” (5.4.36). Then he
stabs Henry. Edward is restored to the throne,
Margaret is exiled to France, and Gloucester
remains on the prowl, still dreaming of the crown
he will one day wear.

The struggle for power divides
a kingdom. The House of Lancaster, to
which Henry VI belongs, and the House of York
vie for power. The Yorkists believe they were
cheated out of the throne in 1399, when Henry
Bolingbroke became king as Henry IV. Within
the House of Lancaster, there is also
division. The Duke of Suffolk conspires with
the queen to oust Henry’s protector so that
they can exert more control over the young
king.

Ambition preys on the weak.
Self-seekers, including Henry’s own wife,
attempt to manipulate the King in order to
further their own ends. Weak leaders invite
upheaval. Henry VI is an upright but weak king
who is easily manipulated. His failure to
assert his authority is in part responsible
for the discord during his reign.

Power is
an irresistible elixir. Henry VI
persuades Richard Plantagenet to delay his
ascendancy to the throne until after Henry has
completed his reign. However, Plantagenet’s
son Richard urges his father to seize the
throne immediately, saying,

Why do we linger thus? I cannot
rest Until
the white rose that I wear be dy’d Even
in the lukewarm blood of Henry’s heart.
(1.2.35-37)

Women can be just as ruthless as
men. Queen Margaret, who envies anyone who
stands in her way of achieving power, presides
at the torture and death of York’s son. Then she
crowns York, taken prisoner, with a paper diadem
and says, “Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a
king!” (1.4.99). Lord Clifford, a supporter of
Margaret and the Lancasters, stabs York.
Margaret stabs him again for good measure. After
York dies, Margaret orders him decapitated.

Tone

As in Henry VI Part I and Henry VI
Part II, the tone is bitter and rancorous as
members of the House of Lancaster vie for power
with members of the House of York.

Conflict

The main conflict centers on the
struggle for power between the Lancastrians and
the Yorkists.

Climax

The climax of a play or
another literary work, such as a short story
or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning
point at which the conflict begins to resolve
itself for better or worse, or as (2) the
final and most exciting event in a series of
events. The climax of Henry VI Part III
occurs, according to the first definition,
when Edward reclaims the throne. According to
the second definition, the climax occurs when
Gloucester stabs Henry in the Tower of London.

Nature Imagery

Shakespeare enlivens and
elucidates his dialogue in Henry VI Part
III and other plays with images drawn
from nature—images of animals, birds, light,
darkness, clouds, and so on. Following are
examples.

See how the morning opes her golden
gates, And
takes her farewell of the glorious sun.
(2.1.23-24)

The
duke is made protector of the realm; And
yet shalt thou be safe? such safety
finds The
trembling lamb environed with wolves.
(1.1.247-249)

Reveng’d
may she be on that hateful duke, Whose
haughty spirit, winged with desire, Will
cost my crown, and like an empty eagle Tire
on the flesh of me and of my son!
(1.1.273-276)

So
looks the pent-up lion o’er the wretch That
trembles under his devouring paws; And
so he walks, insulting o’er his prey, And
so he comes to rend his limbs asunder.
(1.3.15-18)

NORTHUMBERLAND
Hold,
Clifford!
do
not
honour him so much To
prick thy finger, though to wound his
heart. What
valour were it, when a cur doth grin, For
one to thrust his hand between his
teeth, 60 When
he might spurn him with his foot away? It
is war’s prize to take all vantages, And
ten to one is no impeach of valour.
[They lay hands on YORK, who struggles. CLIFFORD
Ay,
ay;
so
strives the woodcock with the gin.
64 NORTHUMBERLAND
So
doth
the
cony
[rabbit] struggle in the net.
(1.4.57-65)

Doves will
peck in safeguard of their brood. (2.2.20)

This battle
fares like to the morning’s war, When dying clouds contend with
growing light, What time the shepherd, blowing
of his nails, Can neither call it perfect day
nor night. Now sways it this way, like a
mighty sea Forc’d by the tide to combat
with the wind; Now sways it that way, like the
self-same sea Forc’d to retire by fury of the
wind: Sometime the flood prevails,
and then the wind; Now one the better, then
another best; Both tugging to be victors,
breast to breast, Yet neither conqueror nor
conquered: So is the equal poise of this
fell war. (2.5.3-15)

She
did corrupt frail nature with some
bribe, To
shrink mine arm up like a wither’d
shrub; To
make an envious mountain on my back, Where
sits deformity to mock my body; To
shape my legs of an unequal size; To
disproportion me in every part, Like
to a chaos, or an unlick’d bear-whelp That
carries no impression like the dam.
(3.2.159-166)

I,
like
one
lost
in a thorny wood, That
rents the thorns and is rent with the
thorns, Seeking
a way and straying from the way; Not
knowing how to find the open air, But
toiling desperately to find it out, Torment
myself to catch the English crown: And
from that torment I will free myself, Or
hew my way out with a bloody axe.
(3.2.178-185)

Figures of
Speech

Following
are examples of figures of speech in Henry
VI Part III. For definitions of figures of
speech, see Literary
Terms.

Alliteration

Patience
is for poltroons,
such as he. (1.1.65)

Whose haughty spirit,
winged with desire
(1.1.274)

I,
then in London, keeper of the king, Muster’d
my soldiers, gather’d flocks of friends.
(2.1.115-116)

Even
then that sunshine brew’d a
shower for
him, That wash’d his father’s
fortunes forth of France.
(2.2.160-161)

So looks the pent-up lion o’er the
wretch That
trembles under his devouring paws; And so he walks,
insulting o’er his prey, And so he comes
to rend his limbs asunder. (1.314-17)

Had he been
ta’en we should have
heard the news; Had he been
slain we should have
heard the news; Or
had he
’scap’d, methinks we
should have heardThe
happy tidings of his good escape. (2.1.6-9)Why,
Via! to London will we march amain, And once again
bestride our foaming steeds, And once again
cry, ‘Charge upon our foes!’ But
never once again
turn back and fly. (2.1.186-189)

Did I forget
that by the house of York My
father came untimely to his death? Did I let pass
the abuse done to my niece? Did I impale
him with the regal crown? Did I put Henry
from his native right? (3.3.192-196)

Metaphor

How sweet a thing it is to wear a
crown, Within
whose circuit is Elysium. (1.2.32.33)Comparison
of a crown to the boundary of heaven

Thy
brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk.
(2.3.20)Comparison
of earth to a living thing; comparison of
blood to a beverage

In
this vow [I] do chain my soul to thine.
(2.3.39)Comparison
of the soul to a corporeal thing that can be
chained

So
we, well cover’d with the night’s black
mantle, At
unawares may beat down Edward’s guard.
(4.2.25-26)Comparison
of darkness to a cloak

Metaphor,
Paradox

And yet shalt thou be safe? such
safety finds The
trembling lamb environed with wolves.
(1.1.248-249) Metaphor:
Queen Margaret compares Henry to a lamb among
wolves.Paradox:
Safety in danger

Personification

See how the morning opes her golden
gates, And
takes her farewell of the glorious sun.
(2.1.23-24) Comparison
of morning to a person

Simile

I saw him [Richard Plantagenet] in
the battle range about, And
watch’d him how he singled Clifford forth. Methought
he bore him in the thickest troop As
doth a lion in a herd of neat [herd of cattle or
oxen]. (2.1.13-16)Comparison
of Richard Plantagenet to a lion

All
my
followers
to
the eager foe Turn
back and fly, like ships before the wind.
(1.4.5-6)Comparison
of the followers to fleeing ships

She
did corrupt frail nature with some
bribe, To
shrink mine arm up like a wither’d shrub.
(3.2.159-160)Richard
compares
his arm to a withered shrub.

Henry VI:
Saintly Scholar

Shakespeare
depicts Henry VI as weak and ineffectual, as he
was in real life. However, the historical Henry
did possess some praiseworthy qualities, notably
his piety as a devout Catholic and his love of
learning and education. He exhibited the latter
quality when he established Eton College in 1440
as the King's College of Our Lady of Eton
Beside Windsor, providing scholarships
for deserving boys who enrolled. Henry also
founded Cambridge University's King's College to
enable Eton boys to continue their education.
Both Eton and King's College continue operation
today as two of England's most respected
educational institutions. As for Henry's famous
saintliness, Edward Hall, a historian who
graduated from Eton and King's College,
described it in a history that Shakespeare used
as one of his sources for the play. Hall (also
spelled Halle) wrote:

He
did abhor of his own nature, all the vices, as
well of the body as of the soul; and from his
very infancy he was of honest conversation and
pure integrity; no knower of evil, and a keeper
of all goodness; a despiser of all things which
were wont to cause the minds of mortal men to
slide or appair. Besides this, patience was so
radicate in his heart that of all the injuries
to him committed (which were no small number) he
never asked vengeance nor punishment, but for
that rendered to Almighty God, his Creator,
hearty thanks, thinking that by this trouble and
adversity his sins were to him forgotten and
forgiven (qtd. in G.B. Harrison, ed. Shakespeare:
The Complete Works. New York: Harcourt,
1952, page 143).

Red Badge of
Ruthlessness: a Foreshadowing

The
play opens at the House of Parliament in London
with a bit of black humor that foreshadows the
ruthless, bloodstained machinations of Richard,
Duke of Gloucester, as he murders his way to the
throne in another Shakespeare history play, Richard
III. First, Edward, Prince of Wales, tells
his father—Richard
Plantagenet, Duke of York—that he
either killed or severely wounded the Duke of
Buckingham. As proof, Edward shows his father
his bloody sword. Not to be outdone, Montague
then displays his sword, stained with the blood
of the Earl of Wiltshire. Richard, Duke of
Gloucester, then ends the game of one-upmanship
by throwing down the head of the Duke of
Somerset. Plantagenet then says, “Richard hath
best deserv’d of all my sons” (1.1.19).

Historical Irony

Henry
VI, though a good man, was one of England's
weakest rulers. Ironically, his father, the
warrior king Henry V, was one of England's
strongest and most beloved monarchs. Henry VI
may have inherited his father's throne, but not
his genes. Perhaps even more ironic, though, is
that Henry VI was king of England for
approximately 40 years, a term of office far
longer than all but a few English monarchs.

War of the Roses

Henry
Bolingbroke's ascendancy to the English throne
as Henry IV was the germinal event that
triggered the War of the Roses (1455-1485)
between the House of Lancaster—founded by
Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt—and the House of York.
For additional information on the War of the
Roses, click
here.

Lineage of the
Houses of Lancaster and York

House of Lancaster: Henry
IV ("Bolingbroke," son of the Duke of
Lancaster), 1399-1413. Age at death: 47. Henry
V (son of Henry IV), 1413-1422. Age at death:
34. Henry VI (son of Henry V, deposed),
1422-1471. Age at death: 49. House of York: Edward IV
(son of duke of York), 1461-1483. Age at
death: 41. Edward V (son of Edward IV), 1483.
Age at death: 13. Richard III ("Crookback,"
brother of Edward IV) 1483-1485. Age at death:
35.

Study Questions
and Essay Topics

1. Which is the most admirable
character in the play? Which is the least
admirable?2. Write an essay that uses Henry
VI Part III to demonstrate how ruthless
politicians maneuver to get their way.3. Write a psychological profile
of King Henry VI or his wife, Margaret.4. Do King Henry’s loyalists
support him because they like him or because
they believe he is the rightful king?5. In monarchies, rulership
passes to a son or daughter of the king and
queen. Is a monarchy a flawed system of
government? Or does it have
its merits?6. Does Richard Plantagenet have
a legitimate claim on the throne?.